Irish Fairies Fight Scottish Fairies

There is a very fascinating story, found mostly in Ulster, of a great battle fought between Irish and Scottish fairies. In all the versions of the story that I have heard, news of the impending battle is brought to a woman who has been kind to the fairies. A fairy-man comes to say goodbye, because he thinks the Irish fairies will be defeated by the Scottish fairies and will be carried off to be slaves for a thousand years. The woman is told that on the night of the battle she will see lights on all the forths within sight of her house and, if she looks at the water in the nearby stream next morning, she will be able to tell how the battle had gone. If the water is red, the Irish fairies will have been defeated. One night the lights are seen on the raths and next morning the stream is running red. (Foster, Ulster, 80-81)